Method of making a concrete railway sleeper and rail and fastening arrangement employing a sleeper made by the method



Feb. 38 19%9 T Y ETAL 3,427,7@@

AIL AND METHOD OF MAKING A CONCRETE RAILWAY SLEEPER AND R FASTENING ARRANGEMENT EMPLOYING A SLEEPER MADE BY THE METHOD Filed May 25, 1966 Sheet of :5

INVENTORS, HAROLD TREVOR ASTLEY, ALFRED ILLTYD WEBBER JONES Feb. 18, i9&@ H T, ASTLEY ETAL 3,427,706

METHOD OF MAKING A CONCRETE RAILWAY SLEEPER AND RAIL AND FASTENING ARRANGEMENT EMPLOYING A SLEEPER MADE BY THE METHOD Filed May 25, 1966 Sheet 3 of 5 I I I l i i l I I 1' l 1 I +'74 I I I L I l g I l I i Z? 1 FIG] y L 1 Z? Fehi 3969 H. T. ASTLEY ETAL 3,427,700 METHOD OF MAKING A CONCR ETE RAILWAY SLEEPER AND RAIL AND FASTENING ARRANGEMENT EMPLOYING A I SLEEPER MADE BY THE METHOD Filed May 25, 1966 Sheet of 5 i 'j/l FIGS United States Patent 46,866/ 65 US. Cl. 29-155 6 Claims Int. Cl. E01!) 9/00, 21/04, 29/24 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Many similar flat blanks which nest with one another are separated from a long strip of sheet metal substantially without waste and are then bent and some of them are incorporated in a concrete railway sleeper before setting of the concrete and form four arches above the concrete and extending across the sleeper. One rail is positioned between two arches and another between the other two arches and the rails are held down by clips which have portions extending parallel to the rails and driven under the arches.

This invention relates to a method of making a concrete railway sleeper and to a rail and fastening arrangement employing a sleeper made by the method.

The word sleeper is used in this specification to denote what in the United States of America is often called a tie or cross tie.

The sleepers here concerned are particularly suitable for use with rail-fastening members each comprising a length of resilient metal of rod form which is bent so as to have, progressing from one end of the length of metal to the other, a first portion which constitutes a substantially straight leg, then a second portion in the form of a reverse-bend, then a third portion extending generally in the direction of said one end, then a fourth portion which extends from the third portion, generally to that side thereof upon which said leg is disposed, and constitutes a further reverse-bend, and finally a fifth portion extending in the general direction towards the junction between the first and second portions, the configuration being such that when the fastening member is in situ with its first portion horizontal and it is viewed in plan, the third and fifth portions appear to be on opposite sides of said first portion. A rail-fastening member of the character set forth above will hereinafter be referred to as a railfastening member of the character defined. Such a fastening member is described in the specification of Patent No. 3,004,716 (Pande-Rolfsen).

' According to the invention, there is provided a method of making a concrete railway sleeper having anchored therein strong sheet metal retaining members, comprising the steps of separating from a long strip of sheet metal of constant width a plurality of similar fiat blanks shaped to nest with one another such that substantially all the sheet metal strip, except at the ends thereof is utilised in the blanks, bending the blanks to form retaining members and so that portions thereof form arches therein and casting a concrete sleeper and incorporating in it, before setting of the concrete, some of the retaining members whereby there are provided between said portions and the upper surface of the concrete four substantially straight passages extending in the Width direction of the sleeper, the passages being open at least at one end, there being two such passages in one half of the length of the 3,427,700 Patented Feb. 18, 1969 sleeper, spaced apart in the length direction of the sleeper, the other two being similarly spaced apart in the other half of the length of the sleeper, the distance between the two passages in each half of the sleeper being a little greater than the width of the base or flange of the rails which the sleeper is to receive.

According to the invention, there is also provided a combination of a concrete railway sleeper made by a method as defined above, two spaced and parallel rails resting crosswise on the sleeper such that each rail has one of the passages adjacent thereto and to one side thereof and another one adjacent thereto and to the other side, a substantially straight leg of a railway rail-fastening member inserted in the open end of each such passage, further portions of the fastening members bearing on the rails and additional portions of the fastening members bearing upon the retaining members at locations which are outward of said passages, as seen from the rails.

According to the invention, there is also provided a method of making a railway rail and fastening arrangement comprising the steps of separating from a long strip of sheet metal of constant width a plurality of similar flat blanks shaped to nest with one another such that substantially all the sheet metal strip, except at the ends thereof is utilised in the blanks, bending the blanks to form retaining members and so that portions thereof form arches therein, casting a concrete sleeper and incorporating in it, before setting of the concrete, some of the retaining members whereby there are provided be tween said portions and the upper surface of the concrete four substantially straight passages extending in the width direction of the sleeper, the passages being open at least at one end, there being two such passages in one half of the length of the sleeper, spaced apart in the length direction of the sleeper, the other two being similarly spaced apart in the other half of the length of the sleeper, the distance between the two passages in each half of the sleeper being a little greater than the width of the base or flange of the rails which the sleeper is to receive, placing two rails on the sleeper in crossed relation thereto, each between two of said passages, and inserting in the open end of each passage a substantially straight leg of a railway rail-fastening member and causing further portions of the four rail-fastening members to bear on the rails and additional portions of said rail-fastening members to bear upon the remaining members at locations which are outward of said passages, as seen from the rails. Preferably the railway rail-fastening members are rail-fastening'mernbers of the character defined. It is preferable for them to be made of spring steel rods of circular crosssection at least A inch in diameter and, in most cases, at least 1 centimetre in diameter.

Examples in accordance with the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a side view of an assembly comprising a concrete railway sleeper with two rails secured to it,

FIGURE 2 shows a corresponding side view, on a larger scale, of part of the assembly,

FIGURE 3 shows another side view, taken as indicated by the arrow III in FIGURE 2, of the part of the assembly which is shown in FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 shows a plan view of a flat sheet metal blank which is used to make part of what is shown in FIGURES 2 and 3,

FIGURE 5 shows a sectional view, taken as indicated by the line and arrows marke V in FIGURE 4, of the blank,

FIGURE 6 shows a view, corresponding to the lefthand end of FIGURE 1, of part of another assembly comprising a concrete railway sleeper with two rails secured to it,

FIGURE 7 shows how several blanks, which are to be used to form parts that are as shown in FIGURE 6, can be cut from sheet material,

FIGURE 8 shows a view, corresponding to the lefthand end of FIGURE 1, of part of another assembly comprising a concrete railway sleeper with two rails secured to it,

FIGURE 9 shows a blank which is to be used to form part of what is shown in FIGURE 8, and

FIGURE 10 shows a view, corresponding to the lefthand end of FIGURE 1, of part of another assembly comprising a concrete railway sleeper with two rails secured to it.

FIGURE 1 shows two flange-footed rails 1 resting on rubber pads 2 which are placed on the top of a concrete railway sleeper 3, the rails being parallel and crosswise with respect to the sleeper and spaced apart in accordance with the gauge of the track.

On opposite sides of each rail there are two passages in which are driven substantially straight legs 7, constituting the first portions, of two rail-fastening members of the character defined. Each of these fastening members has its third portion, 8, resting on the rail base or flange and its fifth portion, 9, bearing upon a portion of a retaining member 10. The rail-fastening members are substantially the same as those illustrated in the drawings in the specification of Patent No. 3,004,716 and the numbers 7, 8 and 9 used above denote the similarly numbered parts in those drawings.

It will be seen that in each half of the length of the sleeper there are two of the passages spaced apart in the length direction of the sleeper by a distance a little greater than the width of the rail base or flange. Each passage is substantially straight and extends in the width direction of the sleeper and is open at both ends, although each passage could be open at one end only if desired. As can be seen more clearly from FIGURE 2, each passage is formed between the upper surface 11 of the concrete and a portion 12 of a retaining member, which portion 12 forms an arch above the surface 11. There are four retaining members in all. Just beyond each of the four arches, considered from the nearest adjacent arch, there is a further portion 13 which extends parallel to the upper surface of the concrete and in contact with that surface and it is upon this portion 13 that the portion 9 of the fastening member rests.

Each portion 12 of a retaining member and each portion 13 are between two parts 14 and one part 15 of the retaining member, which parts extend into the concrete and were incorporated in it during casting of the sleeper, before the concrete had set.

FIGURES 4 and show one of four flat sheet metal blanks from which the retaining members shown in FIG- URE 1 are made, by bending the blanks. The blank could be stamped from sheet metal strip but in the present case it is cut from sheet metal strip which is 12.7 millimetres thick and 76 millimetres wide, with rounded corners as shown in FIGURE 5. The two parts 14 are rectangular strips, 22 millimetres wide and 32 millimetres apart, and the part 15 is a rectangular strip 32 millimetres wide, the lengths of the parts 14 and 15 being the same. Thus the part 15 of one blank will fit between the parts 14 of another blank, i.e. the blanks will nest with one another. The centre-line of the part 15, when extended to the space between the two parts 14, is equidistant from those parts and so a large number of the blanks can be cut from a long strip of the sheet metal with substantially no wastage, except at the ends of the strip.

FIGURE 6 illustrates one of the two rails 1, the rubber pad 2, the concrete sleeper 3, the portions 7, 8 and 9 of a rail-fastening member of the character defined and a retaining memebr having the portions 12 and 13 as described above. The retaining member 10 has a leg 16 4 which is narrower, in the direction parallel to the length of the rail, than the portion 12 and this leg 16 and a part of the portion 12 extend into the concrete. The leg 16 is corrugated, the ridges and furrows extending parallel to the length of the rail. At its other end, the retaining member could terminate above the concrete, below the portion 9 of the rail-fastening member, or it could have an additional portion 17, shown in dotted lines, extending into the concrete.

FIGURE 7 shows several blanks for making retaining members 10 such as the one shown in FIGURE 6. Each blank has a wide rectangular part and a narrower rectangular part, these parts being of the same length and one being twice as wide as the other, one of the shorter sides of one rectangular part adjoining one of the shorter sides of the other rectangular part and both rectangular parts having a common longitudinal centre-line. It will be apparent from FIGURE 7 how such blanks can be cut from sheet metal strip, the width of which is equal to the sum of the lengths of the two rectangular parts, substantially without wastage, except at the ends of the strip. If the additional portion 17 is to be provided on each retaining member, both the wide and the narrow rectangular parts are made longer, by equal amounts.

In FIGURE 8, parts which correspond to those described earlier are similarly numbered. Here it will be seen that the portion '13 of the retaining member 10, upon which portion the portion 9 of the nail-fastening member bears, is parallel to the upper surface of the concrete and spaced from it by a little less than the thickness of the sheet metal of which the retaining member is made. As can be seen from FIGURE 9, the blank is rather like that shown in FIGURE 4 but the parts 14 and 15, which project from the central portion of the blank, are tapered in width. Again, the part 15 of one blank can fit in the space between the parts 14 of another blank, i.e. the blanks are shaped to nest with one another, so that a large number of the blanks can be cut from a long strip of sheet metal the Width of which is equal to the width of the central portion of the blanks, substantially lwithout wastage of metal, except at the ends of the strip.

FIGURE 10 depicts a case in which the portion 13 of the retaining member is spaced from the surface 11 of the concrete sleeper by more than the thickness of the sheet metal of which the retaining member is made. The blank for this retaining member could be substantially as shown in any one of FIGURES 4, 7 and 9.

The sheet metal retaining members could be made of mild steel or of a corrosion-resistant steel such as is sold under the name Cor-Ten (a registered trademark).

Each sheet metal retaining member could be coated, before it is cast in the concrete, with a material that affords protection against corrosion and/ or alfords electrical insulation. A suitable material is one sold under the name Vacsol (a registered trademark) and is a cold setting plastic material based upon P.V.C., which affords electrical insulation and protection against corrosion. This material could cover only those parts of the sheet metal retaining members which extend into the concrete but it preferably covers the whole of the sheet metal retaining members.

Each of the assemblies described above could be moditied in that the third portion 8 of the rail-fastening member of the character defined could bear upon the portion 13 of the retaining member '10 and the fifth portion 9 could bear upon the rail flange. If desired, a piece of electrically insulating material, could be placed on the rail flange, part of it lying underneath the portion 8 or the portion 9 of the rail-fastening member, which then bears indirectly on the rail, and part of it extending between the edge of the rail flange and the adjacent sheet metal retaining member.

The present invention is particularly applicable to cases where each retaining member has, just beyond its arch (12), considered from the nearest adjacent arch (12) in the sleeper, a further portion (13) which extends parallel to, or at an inclination of no more than to, the upper surface of the concrete and either in contact with it or spaced from it by no more than the thickness of the sheet metal of which the retaining member is made. However, it will be apparent from FIGURE 10, and the description of it, that the invention is applicable to other cases also.

We claim:

1. A method of making a concrete railway sleeper having anchored therein strong sheet metal retaining members, comprising the steps of separating from a long strip of sheet metal of constant width a plurality of similar flat blanks shaped to nest with one another such that substantially all the sheet metal strip, except at the ends thereof is utilised in the blanks, bending the blanks to form retaining members and so that portions thereof form. arches therein and casting a concrete sleeper and incorporating in it, before setting of the concrete, some of the retaining members whereby there are provided between said portions and the upper surface of the concrete four substantially straight passages extending in the width direction of the sleeper, the passages being open at least at one end, there being two such passages in one half of the length of the sleeper, spaced apart in the length direction of the sleeper, the other two being similarly spaced apart in the other half of the length of the sleeper, the distance between the two passages in each half of the sleeper being a little greater than the width of the base or flange of the rails which the sleeper is to receive.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the bending of the blanks and their positioning in the concrete are so performed that in the finished sleeper there is, just beyond each arch, considered from the nearest adjacent arch, a further portion of one of the retaining members which extends at an angle of from 0 to 10 to the upper surface of the concrete and is spaced from it by from zero to the thickness of the sheet metal of which the retaining member is made.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the bending of the blanks and their positioning in the concrete are so performed that in the finished sleeper each portion of a retaining member which forms an arch and each said further portion which is adjacent thereto are between two parts of the retaining member which both extend into the concrete.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the separating of the blanks from the strip is so performed that each blank has a central portion from which project in one direction two spaced apart strips and in the other direction a single strip the centre line of which, when extended to the space between the two spaced apart strips, is equidistant from those strips, the arrangement being such that the single strip in one blank fits the space between the two spaced apart strips in another blank.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the separating of the blanks firom the strip is so performed that each blank has a wide rectangular part and a narrower rectangular part, these parts being of the same length and one being twice as wide as the other, one of the shorter sides of one rectangular part adjoining one of the shorter sides of the other rectangular part and both rectangular parts having a common longitudinal centreline.

6. A method of making a railway rail and fastening arrangement comprising the steps of separating from a long strip of sheet metal of constant width a plurality of similar flat blanks shaped to nest with one another such that substantially all the sheet metal strip, except at the ends thereof is utilised in the blanks, bending the blanks to form retaining members and so that portions thereof form arches therein, casting a concrete sleeper and incorporating in it, before setting of the concrete, some of the retaining members whereby there are provided between said portions and the upper surface of the concrete four substantially straight passages extending in the width direction of the sleeper, the passages being open at least at one end, there being two such passages in one half of the length of the sleeper, spaced apart in the length direction of the sleeper, the other two being similarly spaced apart in the other half of the length of the sleeper, the distance between the two passages in each half of the sleeper being a little greater than the width of the blase or flange of the rails which the sleeper is to receive, placing two rails on the sleeper in crossed relation thereto, each between two of said passages, and inserting in the open end of each passage a substantially straight leg of a railway nail-fastening member and causing further portions of the four rail-fastening members to bear on the rails and additional portions of said rail-fastening members to bear upon the retaining members at locations which are outw ard of said passages, as seen from the rails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,686,537 10/1928 Schneider 29-415 2,360,004 10/1944 MacLean 29-415 X 2,657,455 11/1953 Hillberg 29-155 2,814,943 12/1957 Simmons 29-155 X 3,258,511 6/1966 MacGregor 264-45 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

